"It's true. The Force...The Jedi...All of it." - Han Solo

J.J. Abrams will be returning to the galaxy far far away as writer/director on Star Wars Episode IX following the departure of Colin Trevorrow. See below for more...

Lucasfilm made the announcement on StarWars.com today with the following statement-

J.J. Abrams, who launched a new era of Star Wars with The Force Awakens in 2015, is returning to complete the sequel trilogy as writer and director of Star Wars: Episode IX. Abrams will co-write the film with Chris Terrio. Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejwan, Abrams, Bad Robot, and Lucasfilm.

— Lucasfilm Ltd

Kathleen Kennedy added-

With The Force Awakens, J.J. delivered everything we could have possibly hoped for, and I am so excited that he is coming back to close out this trilogy.

— Kathleen Kennedy

Up until yesterday, I would have bet dollars to doughnuts that Rian Johnson would be returning to round out the series, but it makes perfect sense that J.J. Abrams would come back to finish what he started.

I'm certain many fans will complain about how derivative they thought The Force Awakens and by extension how much they fear J.J. Abrams simply retreading Star Wars Episode VI The Return Of The Jedi with Episode IX, but I held fast in saying J.J. Abrams' film had to perform a very specific function in 2012. The Force Awakens worked almost like a soft reboot for the franchise, giving us OT fans the feel of Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope with new characters and appealing to new audiences with freshsh new characters and actors. Episode IX has no such burden. It will follow an original movie (Han Solo) into theatres and be the fifth new Star Wars film from Disney. J.J. Abrams is free to tell whatever story he has in mind.

My concern, if I had any at all, would be J.J. Abrams preference for leaving unanswered questions floating out there in the ether. If IX is simply the last movie in this trilogy and X, XI and XII are soon to be announced - no problem, but if this is it for the saga movies, then J.J. Abrams had better start thinking of ways to wrap everything up in neat little bows.

That being said, I'm happy with this news. I loved The Force Awakens and I'm a fan of J.J. Abrams. Things are looking up. What do you make of the news that J.J. Abrams will be returning? Sound off in the comments below...

UPDATE - In addition to the news that J.J. Abrams will be returning to write and direct Episode IX, Lucasfilm Ltd (via the Star Wars Twitter account) revealed the release date fro Episode IX will also change. The movie will now open on December 20th 2019, back from May 2019. I'm pleased with this news because it gives the director a chance to craft an amazing movie, and I get to keep my new Christmas treat! I expect Han Solo to fall back to Christmas 2018, watch this space.